Prairie Trail: Algonquin to Wisconsin - One Way - Full Trail - August 2021

This is what the trail looked like in August 2021.

Prairie Trail: Souwanas Trail in Algonquin, McHenry County, Illinois to Genoa City, Wisconsin. *One Way*. FULL TRAIL RIDE!

Do you want to see this ride on a map?

GoPro Hero 8 (Auto Wide) for the TimeWarp & GoPro Hero 9 for other video & pics.

When I research new bike trails to ride I use the AllTrails app (love it!) for discovery and YouTube to see what the trail looks like. Many times, any questions I may have (What does the trail look like? How well taken care of is the trail? How wide is the trail? Does it look like a trail we can pull a kids trailer on? How does the new detour go? Are there many places to stop? Where does it tend to flood? How does this trail connect to that trail?) can be answered by a simple video like this. Unfortunately there are a lot of trails that I can’t find videos on or they are way out of date. Hopefully this video will help others who may want to quickly see a trail to decide if it’s a good fit for their ride style.

[cyclemiler]

Lived in Crystal Lake and Algonquin most of my life until the time you shot this video. I’ve ridden thousands of miles on that trail and your video makes me realize how much I miss biking in McHenry County. The beautiful natural display of prairie flowers in September in stunning. I agree with everything you said except for the pizza. Much better to be had in McHenry County. BTW, Rusty Nail has the best Friday fish fry anywhere, bar none. Pro tip, when riding back south it’s easy to avoid the painful ride (for those of us without ebikes) thru Stearns Woods by heading west on Pleasant Hill or Hillside and taking that to Walkup. There’s a very wide sidewalk that gets you back into Crystal Lake where you can resume your journey on the trail.

[dvferyance]

It basically runs on what used to be a rail line that once went as far as Willaims Bay. At the eand of the line was a rail yard and the site of that rail yard is now where the Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy is.

[anotherbuttchair]

New transplant here, I’m starting to bike again, my dad RIP got me into biking again about 8 yrs ago, was hoping he’d bike with me up here? But I’m spirit always there, thanks for the videos.

[pickandstrum]

I road this trail last year and I got lost going through Crystal lake

[DigitalPlaygroundTV]

Did this yesterday and like it very much although Stern Woods Hills are very steep ! But fortunately I did bring my spare baterry with me because on my way back after did the Stern woods again my baterry died 😂😂😂 ! So I swap it and continue until where I was parked.

[kevinb]

Love that you check out every side trail.

[Packageman]

I enjoyed this video, as well as all your others. You have started the Great McHenry Cartographer Debate over a trail that has no end, or is it no beginning? Perhaps we'll meet one day on a trail near you?

[BoldFollower]

Am I correct in understanding there is no marker to indicate when you cross into Wisconsin? I didn’t see anything when you finally got to Wisconsin… just that neighborhood

[NoahOfTheBoat]

Great video, I have never gone past bull valley road. I just remember going northbound it just seems to be a constant 1% elevation. Is that the case all the way to the end?

[starikip]

Great video, thank you very much! Rode it one and a half times (half goes for ex-wife refusing to pedal north from McHenry). Your video is very thoughtful, especially about Crystal Lake streets labyrinth and that confusing Wisconsin border ending! Thank you! Looking forward to see your Fox River ride (by far my favorite trail)!

[heshamshehab]

Hi Were you on the trail in Mchenry, yesterday 9/22/22. I think I said hi to you!!

[philliptraskaski]

Thanks for Genoa City! We are trying to work with the homeowners to develop our end of the trail system. Hopefully in a few years we will have parking, picnic tables and bathrooms.

[lincolngarcia]

I painted a house in crystal lake a few years ago . Stopped at that gas station at mile marker 4 for some sodas. It at looks familiar.

[samuelramos]

I notice you have an ebike. How does your battery responds to that distance?

[kristirobinson]

The beach closes usually the second week of August, so if you were there after that, that’s probably why it wasn’t in use!

[pourme]

Wife and I ride this trail all Summer long. It would be great if the rest stops would offer outlets for ebike charging. We keep hoping restaurants along the trail will be more ebike friendly and offer charging. Our longest ride was 50 miles, and both of our batteries were dead at the end. Would love to go further and could with charging stations. We love Veteran Acres ride, but after that the trail is long, flat and open. Trails through the woods are always more fun. The Fox River Trail south of Algonquin is a great ride. Great video.

[joesalemi]

So what is the name of the park where u can park north of 0?

[DanLimbach]

Nice video. For 25 years, I lived a couple blocks from mile marker 0. Rode many times south to Elgin and North to McHenry and beyond. Now I live by the river a couple blocks from Town Park in Algonquin. Great place to park and access the trail, with numerous bars and restaurants nearby. Thinking about buying an e-bike for even more adventures than I can have with my Trek road bike (especially to tame a few hills on the path). Do you carry a spare battery for the return trip or do you have someone pick you up after a 30 mile ride? (depending on battery and pedal assist level could some e-bikes make the round trip?)

[tedurban]

FYI Route 31 is Main St, so you can't be at Route 31 and Main St, just to let you know 😂

[MrStones]

At 29:00, there is a Trail Closed sign. That is just north of McCullom Lake. To the best of my recollection, I turned around at that very spot, and that is the farthest north I ever went on this trail system. The pavement had crevices, probably due to erosion of the trail base. There was also gravel on the trail. As stated in the narrative, that stretch appears to have flooding problems.
My visit was in the early or mid 1990's, 25-30 years ago, and that stretch of trail still has issues.